Our complete service, where we organise, liaise and escort means that you can focus on your treatment knowing that we are dealing with the detail. This includes the following:
This is where our first discussion takes place on what treatment you are looking for and how we can help. We will discuss what is available, potential costs, and what we need from you to progress your request for treatment from our provider hospitals.
Please note that we reserve the right to decline to refer patients. Please refer to the section headed ‘Reasons Why Access May Decline a Patient’ at the end of this guide.
Once you decide to proceed to the next stage, we ask you to complete a medical health questionnaire and send this back to us, together with a letter of referral from your GP (or Consultant if necessary) and any diagnostic images or photographs. At this time an initial charge of £60.00 is made.
Once we receive the questionnaire, letter of referral and any available diagnostic images or photographs, we arrange to send these to the selected provider hospital. We will liaise with you to make sure that all the relevant medical information that is available for your safe and effective treatment is provided to the hospital where you are being treated. We will also advise you on pre-operative tests that may need to be carried out locally in advance of the procedure and where to get these undertaken.
In some cases, it may be necessary or advisable to have a video consultation with your consultant prior to confirmation of the arrangements for your treatment. We will organise this around the consultant’s schedule and availability. Video consultations cost £65.00.
Following this consultation, if required, or in any other case following the completion of any locally undertaken pre-operative tests, we will review with you the arrangements and take you through the consenting process. Once this process is completed, you will be asked to sign the patient contract and at this point your liability for the treatment and other costs will arise.
(Please note that there will be a separate consenting process for your treatment once you arrive at the treatment hospital or clinic and you have met with your treating consultant).
We book all your flights. Carriers EasyJet, Ryanair, Norwegian Air, Wizz Air and British Airways fly to Budapest. We will discuss your travel options with you prior to making any bookings.
We book your pre and post-operative accommodation in Budapest. The hotel and facilities have been carefully chosen and inspected to ensure that they meet our patient’s needs for effective recovery in quiet and pleasant surroundings.
We book your treatment. At the time of taking you through our consenting process and the signing of the contract we will have provided you with details of what to expect. Once your treatment is booked, we will supply you with specific information in relation to the operation issued by the treating hospital and any relevant hospital requirements so that you are fully informed.
At this time you must make arrangements with your General Practitioner to be signed off from work (if appropriate) and please ensure that you give yourself enough time for full recovery as advised by your Consultant.
Please note: Access Medical Treatment reserves the right to discontinue the service if a patient does not fully agree to abide by the advice on preparation for surgery, discharge times and recovery times provided by the treating hospital or consultant.
We book all in-country transport. This includes your return transport from the airport and up to three return trips between your accommodation and the hospital or as required.
The Access Medical Treatment liaison representative will meet you at the airport and travel with you to your accommodation and the hospital. They will take you to your appointments and are available in person for up to 10 hours each day. The representative acts as your liaison with the treating hospital and provides support to you as may be necessary. Please note that the support we provide is administrative and organisational. It is not nursing support.
Access Medical Treatment will arrange your follow up visit to your General Practitioner or nurse as required. This might be for wound checking, suture removal and general wellbeing. Please note that the General Practitioner’s or nurse’s charges are not included in the treatment costs and you are responsible for paying this direct to the surgery.
Access Medical Treatment will seek to arrange for you to have a typed copy in English of your discharge notes within 5 days of your treatment – although please note this timing will vary depending on the hospital being used and the demand on their services.
Any medication you require such as antibiotics to prevent infection will be prescribed while you are an in-patient or when you are discharged. This will be prescribed by the treating consultant. We will discuss with you during your consultation if any medication or drugs are not included in the charges.
If you encounter a delay to your flights, we will book you on the next available flights and arrange accommodation as may be necessary or required. We will also liaise with the provider hospital to rearrange any consultation or surgery date as required. Any additional costs that may arise from rebooking flights and accommodation are payable by you, and it is your responsibility to reclaim those costs from your insurer if they are covered by the policy.
We are on call for you 24 hours while you are away for your treatment and you and the patient liaison representative will be given an emergency number where we may be contacted.
For the majority of patients, the treatment costs will be those that are agreed at the time of the contract.
However, treatment costs may vary if extra surgical intervention is required or there are significant additional consumables used. Drugs and medications are charged as extra items.
We will discuss all the costs with you at the outset of your journey to treatment. This will include an itemised bill for every element of the service.
Payment is made on the signature of the contract. This is because there is generally only a short period of time between the contract signature and the dates of the treatment. If for some reason, there is to be a significant period before treatment, we may agree to payment of 50% on signature and the balance not later than 14 days before travel. In such a case however both installments must be paid prior to treatment taking place.
We require that all our patients are protected by insurance provided that it can be obtained. Comprehensive medical travel insurance covers you for both medical treatment and travel and may not be as expensive as you may think. Here is the link to our preferred provider www.medicaltravelshield.com
We understand that sometimes it may be necessary to cancel a treatment. We will go through the Access Medical Treatment cancellation policy with you during your first consultation, prior to you deciding to proceed with your treatment.
We will also direct you to the Key Facts document used by the insurance company we recommend patients to use so that you have a full understanding of what is covered.
There is no small print, we treat you how we want to be treated, with transparency, respect, honesty and care.
Access Medical Treatment and its Provider hospitals operate to a high code of ethics. We therefore retain the right to decline requests to access our services in certain circumstances.
Please note that our insurance provider offers cover for patients up to the age of 66. For older patients, we have negotiated with our medical insurance provider to look at each patient on a case by case basis. If you are unable to secure insurance, we would discuss potential costs for unforeseen emergency treatment or other emergency costs to help you to make an informed decision on whether to proceed with treatment but it may be that we are unable to accept you as our patient.
We are also unable to accept patients for elective surgery where a patient has not been able, for whatever reason, to secure a letter of referral from their General Practitioner or other medical consultant.